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>The passenger vanity mirror fell off completely. Installed and held on only by double-sided tape. That is the most worrying report of all... taping together p

>The passenger vanity mirror fell off completely. Installed and held on only by double-sided tape. That is the most worrying report of all... taping together parts of a $56,000 automobile? Glass parts, no less? Sounds like desperation is taking hold at Tesla imho...

userbinator 8y ago
What did you expect? Tape is not uncommon. Pretty much all mirrors are held on with double-sided tape, or some other soft adhesive.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  >What did you expect? Some actual engineering of a snap together framework at the very least? (Which would be even cheaper than just taping it together in the long run...) Some nuts and bolts, perhaps? I have never heard of a mirror "falling off" of any consumer car unless it was in some kind of accident... especially not after a few months of ownership... of a $56,000 car...
  - justin66 8y ago
    It's a vanity mirror. It shouldn't ever fall off or come loose, but the correct double-sided adhesive should be perfectly adequate.
  - userbinator 8y ago
    Some nuts and bolts, perhaps? It's a piece of glass. Adding such fastening would increase the cost of assembly significantly. Double-sided tape is an industry standard. Cars costing more and less than $56k use it. It just appears that it wasn't very good tape in this case. Good double-sided tape can stick very, very well.
    - sxcurry 8y ago
      I love it! This is HN now - backing up the use of double sided tape in a Tesla. Glad I bought an Audi...,
      - greglindahl 8y ago
        I don't know shit about how mirrors are attached in cars, but I know how to Google. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/Industrial-Adhesives-Tapes/-/SolutionsFor/Automotive/ http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/Industrial-Adhes...
        userbinator 8y ago
        This is the relevant line from that link: 3) 3M Double Coated Tape 4492 is used to bond interior visor mirror glass to the plastic bezel. To the grandparent: Your Audi likely uses double-sided tape too. :-)
    - flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
      >It's a piece of glass. Adding such fastening would increase the cost of assembly significantly. But at least it would be guaranteed not lead to reviews of 3 month old cars where the glass mirrors were not falling off and making the company look poorly before it even gains mass adoption. The engineering of early macbook pros was absolutely over the top and ridiculously expensive... but Apple knew that they were buying trust with that added expense. You can't build trust with a taped on mirror that falls off into the lap of a powerful reviewer. >Cars costing more and less than $56k use it I'm sure that they do... but I suspect that the brands behind them have been around a bit longer than Tesla has. If McDonalds serves me a crummy burger for the first time in the hundreds of times that I've frequented them... I'll forgive them and go back without hesitation. If the brand new Uncle Ricks Burger Shack pops up and sells me an overpriced, crappy burger... I'm going to tell everyone I know never to waste their money at that lousy joint. (Before they've probably even had the chance to visit and make their own decisions!) The Model 3 was Tesla's first start in the big leagues... they should have made sure that their mirrors were not falling off after a few months of regular use... that is the only point I am trying to make. The fact that other car companies use tape to secure mirrors is irrelevant to my argument.
      - vinceguidry 8y ago
        > The engineering of early macbook pros was absolutely over the top and ridiculously expensive... but Apple knew that they were buying trust with that added expense. This is a myth. Early Macbook Pros weren't even actually unibody, even though they were advertised as such. Instead they glued two pieces of aluminum together, which would come apart after awhile. Numerous issues with screens delaminating and such as well. They were certainly better-engineered than their existing counterparts, but build quality at Apple has always been a third-tier concern.
- Animats 8y ago
  Tape is not uncommon in automotive, but most manufacturers use tape that won't come unglued in normal operation.
- TeeWEE 8y ago
  My Audi from 2001 has a nice "snap" feature that puts the mirror in place. It really hard to get off. Its engineered well. Tape sounds bad.

userbinator 8y ago

What did you expect? Tape is not uncommon. Pretty much all mirrors are held on with double-sided tape, or some other soft adhesive.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
>What did you expect? Some actual engineering of a snap together framework at the very least? (Which would be even cheaper than just taping it together in the long run...) Some nuts and bolts, perhaps? I have never heard of a mirror "falling off" of any consumer car unless it was in some kind of accident... especially not after a few months of ownership... of a $56,000 car...
- justin66 8y ago
  It's a vanity mirror. It shouldn't ever fall off or come loose, but the correct double-sided adhesive should be perfectly adequate.
- userbinator 8y ago
  Some nuts and bolts, perhaps? It's a piece of glass. Adding such fastening would increase the cost of assembly significantly. Double-sided tape is an industry standard. Cars costing more and less than $56k use it. It just appears that it wasn't very good tape in this case. Good double-sided tape can stick very, very well.
  - sxcurry 8y ago
    I love it! This is HN now - backing up the use of double sided tape in a Tesla. Glad I bought an Audi...,
    - greglindahl 8y ago
      I don't know shit about how mirrors are attached in cars, but I know how to Google. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/Industrial-Adhesives-Tapes/-/SolutionsFor/Automotive/ http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/Industrial-Adhes...
      - userbinator 8y ago
        This is the relevant line from that link: 3) 3M Double Coated Tape 4492 is used to bond interior visor mirror glass to the plastic bezel. To the grandparent: Your Audi likely uses double-sided tape too. :-)
  - flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
    >It's a piece of glass. Adding such fastening would increase the cost of assembly significantly. But at least it would be guaranteed not lead to reviews of 3 month old cars where the glass mirrors were not falling off and making the company look poorly before it even gains mass adoption. The engineering of early macbook pros was absolutely over the top and ridiculously expensive... but Apple knew that they were buying trust with that added expense. You can't build trust with a taped on mirror that falls off into the lap of a powerful reviewer. >Cars costing more and less than $56k use it I'm sure that they do... but I suspect that the brands behind them have been around a bit longer than Tesla has. If McDonalds serves me a crummy burger for the first time in the hundreds of times that I've frequented them... I'll forgive them and go back without hesitation. If the brand new Uncle Ricks Burger Shack pops up and sells me an overpriced, crappy burger... I'm going to tell everyone I know never to waste their money at that lousy joint. (Before they've probably even had the chance to visit and make their own decisions!) The Model 3 was Tesla's first start in the big leagues... they should have made sure that their mirrors were not falling off after a few months of regular use... that is the only point I am trying to make. The fact that other car companies use tape to secure mirrors is irrelevant to my argument.
    - vinceguidry 8y ago
      > The engineering of early macbook pros was absolutely over the top and ridiculously expensive... but Apple knew that they were buying trust with that added expense. This is a myth. Early Macbook Pros weren't even actually unibody, even though they were advertised as such. Instead they glued two pieces of aluminum together, which would come apart after awhile. Numerous issues with screens delaminating and such as well. They were certainly better-engineered than their existing counterparts, but build quality at Apple has always been a third-tier concern.
Animats 8y ago
Tape is not uncommon in automotive, but most manufacturers use tape that won't come unglued in normal operation.
TeeWEE 8y ago
My Audi from 2001 has a nice "snap" feature that puts the mirror in place. It really hard to get off. Its engineered well. Tape sounds bad.